Jan. 23, 2007

AUBURN -

For the second time in her career, Auburn gymnast Julie Dwyer has been named Southeastern Conference Gymnast of the Week, the conference announced on Tuesday.

The Bloomington, Ind., native, is coming off a superb showing last Friday against Kentucky.  She broke her own school record, set two career highs and tied one.  Dwyer collected her 16th career all-around title with a school record score of 39.650, while also setting a new career high with a 9.950 on beam, giving her 15 for her career.  She also collected her third career bar win after totaling a 9.850.  Including her wins on vault, bars and beam, Dwyer now has 45 career titles to her credit, eight of which have come so far in 2007.  The junior tied a career high with a 9.950 on vault to win her eighth career vault title.

Dwyer, a two-time All-American and defending SEC Gymnast of the Year, is currently ranked first in the country on beam with a 9.908 average, and fourth in the all-around with an average score of 39.333.

As a team, the Tigers are ranked 10th in the country, their highest ranking since being ninth the week of January 16, 2006.  In addition, AU is ranked third nationally on beam with a 48.975 average.

Auburn will head to Tuscaloosa on Friday to face No. 5 Alabama at 7:30 p.m. in Coleman Coliseum.  The meet will be covered by ESPN2 and shown on tape delay Feb. 13 at 1:30 p.m. CT.